Top 10 Tips for the Online Freelance Writer to Reach Success
The past few years experienced significant changes to the global market. Due to the pandemic, many people were forced to transition to remote work while others became freelancers.
On one hand, this transition allowed professionals in different fields to find new career opportunities. On the other hand, the freelance sphere became all the more competitive. Whether you are a newcomer or an experienced freelancer, here are the top ten tips to help you develop a successful online freelance writing career and reach success.
1. Keep Networking
One of the most important things you should remember when freelancing is that you should always keep networking. Rather than settling for a select number of regular clients, it’s much better to always have some connections in case you or your clients decide to cut ties.
Likewise, networking is important for connecting with fellow writers as well. It’s a great way to find like-minded people who could also potentially recommend you to a client someday. Though freelancing is usually a solo job, it doesn’t have to always be that way.
2. Improve Your Skills
It goes without saying that having a successful freelance writing career requires you to be a good writer. If you are unsure about your writing abilities, you should definitely spend some time improving them. But even if you are certain that you are a great writer, you still need to keep improving your skills.
Why? Because it’s the best way to grow as a specialist in your field. Learn about the different types of writing you can do as a freelancer and find ways to practice those. In addition to that, improve skills related to your field such as researching, referencing, interviewing, etc.
3. Try Different Gigs
Speaking of practicing your skills, one of the best ways to do this is by actively trying different gigs. Don’t just stick to what you are good at – find jobs that could be challenging, unusual, and full of opportunities to get creative.
Tiring different gigs can be beneficial to you in other ways too. For instance, you will be growing your network and client base this way. You will also be able to experiment more and maybe even find some types of jobs that you particularly enjoy or excel in.
4. Be Professional
While it is crucial to be good at writing, it is also incredibly important to simply be professional at everything you do. Joking and messing around is acceptable in some cases, but most of the time, you need to present yourself in a particular way and conduct everything like a professional.
Joan Tucker, an expert from the top essay writing reviews site, says, “I always tell new freelance writers to be respectful both to their clients and to fellow writers. Being polite makes you a professional at what you do, but it also makes you a good human being.”
5. Study SEO
Depending on the type of writing you do, you will need to use different tones, styles, and so on. However, if you only work with one type of writing (e.g. fiction writing), it doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t learn anything about others (e.g. writing for social media).
This is exactly why you need to study SEO and even marketing a little. Knowing what it is and how it works will already help you get started with a wide range of types of writing. Moreover, you will need to use SEO to market yourself online, so it’s actually a skill you need to have no matter what you write and how you write it.
6. Follow the News
As mentioned earlier, you should keep improving your skills to advance your career in the long term. Improving your skills will help you become better at your craft, but you should also follow the news to understand the industry.
For instance, if you only write content for a specific niche (e.g. dog care), you need to be up to date with all the latest news in the said field. What are the hottest topics being discussed? What are the latest trends? What are some products or services relevant to the niche? What are the experts saying? What is your competition doing?
7. Outsource
Some writers are adamantly opposed to the idea of outsourcing. Of course, like anything else, outsourcing has its own disadvantages. But when you consider its benefits, it doesn’t seem all that bad and can actually be extremely helpful to many writers, especially newcomers.
Outsourcing allows you to simplify your workflow and focus on the most important tasks for the day. It can also be a great way to reduce stress and give you more time to rest. To find a writer or editor for outsourcing, you can check lists such as the top 10 research paper writing service websites or even reach out to your fellow writers to get suggestions from them.
8. Manage Time Well
Outsourcing is perfect for giving you more time to dedicate to different tasks, but even beyond that, you need to know how to manage your time well. Time management is by far one of the most important skills anyone should have, not just freelance writers.
It’s a good idea to set both long-term and short-term goals and then break them down into tasks. This will help you organize your day-to-day activities in a way that will help you stay on track and never miss deadlines.
9. Market Yourself
As mentioned earlier, networking is essential for advancing your career as is knowing how to use SEO. Though you can get quite a few clients through networking alone, you will still need to market yourself online to find more gigs.
Depending on your niche and the type of writing you do, marketing yourself could take on different forms. However, there are some general practices every freelance writer can follow:
Know your audience and your niche. Think about the platforms where your potential clients are and promote yourself there.
Don’t expect instant results and instead take one step at a time. Gain a following on platforms such as LinkedIn and Medium to establish yourself as an authority in your respective field.
Have a portfolio ready with samples and references. Set up your website and keep it up to date. Be easy to contact through multiple channels (e.g. social media, email).
10. Have A Plan B
Last but not least, you need to have a plan B. This is mostly something that applies to new freelance writers who are unsure whether they would like to do the job long-term or who don’t have many resources to get started quickly.
In the beginning, you won’t have many clients and you won’t be able to charge much for your services. This is why you might need to have at least a part-time job that will support you until you have enough clients.
Final Thoughts
At the end of the day, how successful you are as a freelance writer will depend on multiple different factors. However, by following the tips in this article, you will definitely be able to organize your workflow and start advancing your career.
Anna likes writing from her university years. When she graduated from the Interpreters Department, she realized that translation was not so interesting, as writing was. She trains her skills now working as a freelance writer on different topics. Always she does her best in the posts and articles.